This invention relates to a wheel construction and more particularly to a wheel suitable for use in in-line roller skates used for recreational purposes. This invention further relates to a novel method of making such wheel construction.
Recently, there has been developed a type of roller skate commonly refereed to as an in-line roller skate which has experienced a widespread usage for recreational purposes. The skate generally consists of a shoe portion, a pair of spaced, longitudinally disposed rails depending from the sole portion of the shoe and a plurality of roller wheels spaced longitudinally between the rails and mounted on axles supported on the rails. Typically, the roller wheels used on such skates have included a hub portion having a bearing mounted on an axle, and a tire portion mounted on and secured to the periphery of the hub portion of the skate. Preferably, the hub portion has been formed of material providing high dimensional stability, strength and hardness, and the hub portion has been formed of a material providing low rolling resistance, good wear characteristics and non-skid properties. Various materials and combinations of materials have been used for the hub and tire portions of such wheels with the tire portions of the wheels being formed integrally with the tire portions, detachably secured to the hub portions, mechanically interlocked to the hub portions and fused and otherwise bonded thereto. It has been found, however, that such prior art wheel constructions have not been entirely satisfactory in performance, typically providing high rolling resistance, undue wear and/or loss of resilience under repetitive loading. It thus further has been found to be desirable to provide a novel wheel construction suitable for use in in-line roller skates which not only has a hub portion of high dimensional stability, strength and hardness but a tire portion which has a low rolling resistance, good wear resistance and a low loss of resilience under repetitive loading to provide an efficient and comfortable ride for the user.
Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved wheel construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved wheel suitable for use in an in-line skate.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved wheel construction suitable for use in an in-line skate having a high dimensional stability, low rolling resistance, a low loss of resilience under repetitive loading and durability.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved wheel for an in-line skate, having a hub portion and a tire portion rigidly secured to the hub portion.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved wheel for an in-line roller skate having a hub portion having high dimensional stability, strength and hardness and a tire portion formed integrally with such hub portion and having a low rolling resistance, a low loss of resilience under repetitive loading and a high durability.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved wheel for an in-line roller skate which is simple in design, easy to manufacture and effective in performance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of making a wheel suitable for use in an in-line skate.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved in-line skate suitable for use for recreational purposes.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: